


An "Unconventional" cosplay fic

by I_hate_mages_No_you_dont



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anders Positive, Convention, Cosplay, Fluff, Gender Dysphoria, M/M, Trans Anders (Dragon Age), Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-17 03:04:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11266623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_hate_mages_No_you_dont/pseuds/I_hate_mages_No_you_dont
Summary: The convention is coming up, Andreas is ready, the cosplay in his suitcase: Anders, of course.His biggest fear: Will people transfer the pointless hate they apparently have for Anders towards him?And what about that "Fenris" his friend intends to bring into their group? If he's anti-Anders in real life, Andreas is out... or so he thinks.(by kittenmage)





	An "Unconventional" cosplay fic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dirty_Corza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dirty_Corza/gifts).



> AU in which the Dragon Age characters are cosplayed by themselves. The names have been changed to reduce confusion (or make it worse, who knows).  
> Slight changes to the characters in gender, age, relations may occur. I hope you can enjoy it even if you disagree with them.
> 
> This fanfic is completely Corza's fault and I am so happy she kept me motivated to finally write again. So. This is for you <3 You're such a wonderful person and amazing friend!

_‘Why on earth does Anders have so many bandages everywhere? There is no sense in that.’_

“Andraste’s tits that is pointless!”

With a line of hisses and curses Andreas fastened the next bandage around his fore arm and glared at the result. It looked crooked and out of place. Which was perfect for the character. Still he wasn’t really pleased with his work. Something was off. Something was decidedly not as he had intended it to be. And that something was not just that his small Dragon Age group had welcomed a new member who seemed to be every bit as prickly as the character he cosplayed.

“Is something wrong… Holy shit, you look gorgeous!”

Kate entered the small bathroom of their shared hotel room and let out an appreciative whistle. She was still only half dressed, her skirt of leather straps the only part of her costume that gave away the character. Her brown hair put together in two neat braids and judging by the hairpins between her lips, she was just about to tuck it up. Other than the quite revealing shirt she only wore a bra. See-through black lace as always. Andreas’ only reaction was an eye roll.

“Could you for once not run around half naked? You’re just cosplaying Zevran, you don’t have to impersonate him.”

This was met by a chuckle and quite a suggestive smirk. “Am I making the apostate uncomfortable? We both know I chose Zevran for a reason.” Kate laughed, Andreas shook his head and turned towards the mirror again.

“What’s the matter?”

In the reflection Andreas could see that Kate had given up the fight with her braids for the moment and stepped next to him. “Your costume is amazing, your stubble perfect and I am still jealous you can use your own hair for Anders. I hate this.” With a disgusted frown, she nodded towards the wig she would use for Zevran that for the time being was propped upon a wig head next to the sink. It looked neat and perfect. Which would definitely change towards the end of the day and especially during the party after the convention.

“You’re not still mad about me inviting David. I swear he’s nice.”

Andreas snorted as he reached for the leather wrist cuff and slipped his hand through it. It should be placed over the bandages on his left arm, to keep them in place. Apart from that the function was not quite clear. As with most costume parts in Bioware designs. With a grim smirk, Andreas thought about the struggle Joel was most definitely in right now with all of Dorian’s belts.

“I’m sure he’s nice. To you! You’re not a…”

He was going to say “mage” but Kate interrupted him beforehand. “Tzz, don’t even start with that again. Not every DA cosplayer hates Anders.”

“Oh, what a relief! Thank you!” With an exasperated glance at Kate’s reflection in the mirror, Andreas continued. “That makes me feel so much better, that not everyone judges me based on cosplay choices.” The frustration over the online hate he had gotten so far, simply for choosing a cosplay, was not always easy to deal with. Nor was the struggle with the lacing of that damned leather wrist cuff, that just wouldn’t stay in place.

That was the moment when Kate took pity on him and reached over to close the lacing with two swift tucks at the ends. Then she looked up and fixed her gaze on Andreas. It was hard to turn away when she did that. As uncomfortable as it might be to be faced with such a straight gaze, Andreas knew it would only get worse if he evaded her.

“You are great and kind and I am happy to be friends with you. And anyone who disagrees and bullies you for your cosplay will get stabbed with my daggers.”

“They are made out of foam.”

“Technicalities!”

Despite himself, Andreas felt himself grinning.

“Fine”, he eventually said, “but if he starts a discussion about grey morality and terrorism I am leaving.”

“He definitely won’t!” The smirk that accompanied that statement confused Andreas for a second but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. “I swear he’s a nice Fenris. You’ll see!”

An hour and lots of glue to keep Zevran’s wig in place later, Andreas and Kate entered the convention hall and were immediately greeted by someone with decidedly swaying hips and a perfectly styled moustache. At university Joel always got funny looks for his choice of facial hair, but in costume he simply looked…

“Hot!”, Kate said and threw a flirtatious glance at Joel. It made him chuckle and he hugged them both at once. “I know darling, I know. But I might say the same. Two sexy blondes as company? I am a very happy necromancer!” Joel winked and joined them in the line for the tickets. “So how did your morning go? I swear if I have to sew one more belt buckle EVER I will blow up the chantry.”

“You know that’s my job, right?”

Joel shrugged. “There are enough for us both.”

Andreas laughed. Joel made him smile. In fact, he always made him smile. It was an odd sort of friendship that had started when they both met on Facebook talking about mage rights in a Dragon Age chat. Or rather “discussing”. Joel always insisted on keeping it “polite”. For weeks, they had entertained each other with the weirdest head canons before they noticed that they not only were at the same university but studied the same subject. Ironically that discovery was made by Kate, who picked them up for lunch one day and asked them how their class went and both had started the same rant over the same professor.

Joel was great. And totally gay. And totally in love with his partner. Who was, save to say a bear of a man that looked ready to wrestle an ox with bare hands although he had the sweetest temper and the calmest smile Andreas had ever seen on anyone. The first time Andreas and Kate had met Zacharias had ended in them giggling for five minutes straight. It took them five more to make Joel understand that they were by no means mocking either of them. Zacharias had taken it quite well. Either he was used to the weird friends of his boyfriend or had heard enough of Kate and Andreas to be unfazed by it. When Andreas finally managed to reveal what was so funny, Zacharias even ended up joining the laughter while Joel turned bright pink. Between two fits of chuckles Andreas got out “you look like modern AU Dorian and Bull!”

Joel had denied it, getting more flustered by the minute. Zacharias started asking question, as he apparently hadn’t yet been invited to play Dragon Age and only knew of it from his boyfriend and Kate continued to choke on laughter every time she glimpsed at the couple.

Zacharias would have joined them for the convention, although not in cosplay, if not for an urgent call from his step-brother. Something about problems with the truck they ordered for moving, and lots of chairs. Andreas had no clue really and even Joel seemed a bit confused by the actual circumstances. Zacharias had promised to pick them up on Sunday for an after con barbecue. Even though Joel had frowned a bit, which was definitely not due to the fact that he had been eager to slightly show of his perfect boyfriend to the world. No. That was definitely only what Andreas read as subtext.

“…and then Zach said they had to drive five times to get all the furniture done because they couldn’t fit everything into the car.”

Joel still talked about the move and his boyfriend once they reached the end of the line and got their tickets. Andreas was grateful for it. The constant chatter kept him from panicking in silence. So far no one had given him a disapproving look. Or worse. Because despite what Kate thought, it was not just the character he had chosen but the fact that he always worried about not being “male enough”.

The new binder fit well and hit the slim curves sufficiently especially under the square cut of Anders’ coat, but his stubble was still “only” makeup and would remain until he got approval for t. Which could still take months. Kate never minded, in fact she always said it was great her lips weren’t all itchy when she kissed his cheek. It was sweet of her. She tried to cheer him up in her own way. Joel always held grand speeches when it came to the subject and though Andreas was happy about the very vocal support, it sometimes ended up in Joel ranting about sexuality and gender for 30 min straight while drunk on the train ride home. But at least his friends were 100% supportive of him. And always had been. Unlike his father who had… 

“ANDERS!”

An excited yell interrupted Andreas’ musing at this point and two Supernatural cosplayers ran up to them, beaming excitedly. Andreas blinked in confusion.

“Can we maybe take a picture with you? Anders is my absolute favourite character and your cosplay is perfect!”

Andreas blinked again and felt himself nod. _‘What on earth…?’_

Suddenly he had two very excited cosplayers standing left and right of him, smiling at the phone Kate held up to take a picture. He probably looked silly. No dumbfounded. Because that is what he felt like. Of all the reactions he had expected, this was the most unlikely.

“You never see enough Anders cosplayers, and your cosplay is so well done. I cannot believe it! I’ve been following your progress on Instagram and see…” One of them pointed at the tiny Justice shaped pin on her collar. “I know it doesn’t really belong to Dean but it fits and I love it!” They smiled brightly at him, a faint blush on their cheeks. “Thank you so much for the picture!”

“Oh.” Finally, Andreas broke free from his stunned state and regained his usual eloquence. “Well, it was an honour. I thank YOU.” With that he took the offered hand and left a quick kiss on the back of it. “Dean’s” eyes got wide and shortly after both of them disappeared. Still giggling uncontrollably. Andreas felt just as light headed as they sounded. Someone liked his cosplay. Recognized it and reacted with approval. That was… nice. A fuzzy feeling settled inside his chest. Yet only for a moment. Because the first thing he heard after Kate’s whispered “told you, you’re dashing!” was a huff from somewhere behind them and a short, exasperated “Mages…”

Apparently their Fenris had arrived.

“David!” Kate swirled around with as much excitement as the two cosplayers who had just left them. Within seconds she flung herself at the newly arrived elf who in turn eyed Joel and especially Andreas with a strange kind of curiosity. His cosplay was on point. As far as Andreas could discern most of it was made of real leather, the armour parts shone as if they were actual metal – maybe they were? – and the white hair looked so realistic, Andreas wondered for a moment if it was David’s actual hair. A fact Andreas registered with a hint of satisfaction was, that David was actually almost a head shorter than him. _‘At least he can’t physically look down on me then..’_

“You must be our ex slave!”, Joel jokingly said and offered David his hand. The latter took it with a tilt of his head. Either he didn’t get the joking undertone in Joel’s remark or didn’t have that particular sense of humour. Or he took Fenris’ mage hate too seriously. Andreas tried to swallow down the anxiety that seeped through him like a bucket of ice water and offered the newcomer his hand as well.

“Anders… eh… Andreas… eh… yes. Hi!”

Great! That was definitely the best first impression.

David didn’t really react. He just looked at them both with a quirked eyebrow and finally settled on “David. Or Fenris. I don’t care. Kate told me a lot about you.”

Another figurative bucket of ice water hit Andreas. He knew Kate. He knew Kate well. And he knew her inclination to talk about her friends in great detail. So, if she had only revealed half of their shared thoughts and memories, he was fucked. Judging by her smirk earlier she had probably told David everything about his fears to be hated by him. Or maybe not. Once the introduction was done, David turned his sole focus on Kate who immediately started talking and retold everything about the “fangirl encounter” and her struggle with the wig this morning.

“… you should have seen Andreas half-dressed this morning. Damn! Wouldn’t mind a good-looking guy in my room every day.”

“I can imagine.” The reply was as deadpan as it could be. David’s expression didn’t even change for a second. This confused Andreas even more. Did he hint that he could imagine, him looking good or was that just a comment on Kate’s fondness for handsome company?

“Did someone steal your cat, or why do you look so sour?”

Joel nudged him slightly and gave him his usual “you know I don’t like to talk about feelings but when you need me I am there look”. Andreas knew that look well. He got it at least once a week. Maybe twice, depending on the time of the month. But in this moment, he didn’t feel like talking. At least not in front of Kate and David. And stealing away to have a private discussion was out of the question. So Andreas managed a smile and shook his head.

“Just nervous. I’m fine!”

Judging by the quirked eyebrow, Joel recognized the lie immediately but said nothing. Andreas was grateful for it. And even more so that Kate hadn’t seen or heard this exchange. She would never have given up so easily.

“Hey! What do you say to some cosplay spotting and ice cream? We still got some till our meeting with the others.”

Kate turned around and kept walking backwards. She had been hyped for this convention for weeks and worked very hard to get her cosplay finished. Which was two nights before they had to leave. Now she was completely at ease and perfectly happy. Andreas would be the last to spoil that for her.

“Sounds good by me.”

Joel groaned, but his smile gave him away instantly. “Can you children think about nothing but food?”

“You’re only worried you’ll mess up your moustache, darling!”

Andreas’ mockery was met by a fake gasp. “On no, you discerned my true weakness.” They started laughing and went for the ice cream vendor they had seen earlier. At one point Andreas could hear David speak up. With a side glance at Joel and him, he asked Kate “Are they always like that?”

“Oh yes.” She chuckled. “They are inseparable and ridiculous. I love it.”

Again, all he said in reply was “I see.”

If that was some sort of standard reply for him or if he was not so secretly judging them for being embarrassing in public was yet unclear. Andreas would have loved to know, but understanding this would require actually talking with “Fenris”. And as of yet he didn’t have the courage to do that.

The tension that at least Andreas felt, seemed to get a little less after they finished their ice cream and sat by the fountain, watching passing cosplayers. Their conversation ended up being about cosplay construction at one point. It seemed a neutral enough subject and luckily, they were all mature enough to exchange their experiences and even some advice without offending each other. David had come across an interesting tutorial about leather weathering and Andreas and he ended up in an in-depth discussion of the techniques and tools they usually used. It was… interesting. And came a lot more naturally than Andreas had feared. He relaxed a bit and gladly unfastened one of his belt pouches so Fenris could inspect it more thoroughly.

“That is an incredibly clever pattern.”

David turned around the pouch and openly marvelled at the detailed stitching around the edges.

“It is! But it’s not by me. I can send you the link if you want to. It is by another Anders cosplayer. He works with leather professionally. I would not have finished this cosplay in time without him.” Andreas smiled, happy that he could offer new information to David. Still he was very surprised when David handed back the pouch and reached for his own to get his phone.

“What’s your number? Or name on Facebook? Can’t send me anything if we don’t know each other there, right.”

Andreas was slightly taken aback by the question. Not that he minded giving away his phone number. But he hadn’t expected David to ask him for it. At all.

“Ehm, sure. Wait a second.” And while he fumbled for his phone he asked himself if he had maybe been wrong about David and his earlier fears had just been his anxiety talking. As most of the time.

When Andreas pushed the button to type in his pin, Joel looked at the lock screen and let out a long “Awww”.

“You’re still using this as a lock screen? You are so adorable.”

With a deep blush Andreas realized that the picture he still had as a lock screen was one of the steamier shots he and Joel had taken about a year ago in their Thranduil and Bard cosplays. It was a good shot. Very artsy. Very suggestive.

He immediately realized the frown on David’s face.

Hastily Andreas unlocked his phone and searched in his contact list for his own number. “Bad at remembering”, he mumbled when he found it eventually and held out his phone to David, who silently copied it and send him a text message in return. Joel was still laughing.

“I am seriously surprised you’re not using one of the nsfw ones. No one would bat an eye at that, you know.”

Oh, Andreas knew that this was most definitely not true. David for example seemed to bat two eyes and within moments was back in the oddly distant attitude from before their talk. The situation was solved or at least prevented from getting out of hand even more when Andreas spotted a familiar red streak of makeup on the face of a woman who just left the building and walked towards the fountain.

“Hawke!”

He was on his feet in minutes and crossed the distance with long strides. The other cosplayer seemed startled for a moment then her face lit up with recognition and she smiled brightly.

“We have been writing! You’re that Anders!”

A thick Scottish accent punctuated her words and Andreas instantly added this as a new head canon for Hawke.

“Yes! I am that Anders! It’s so good to see you! Glad you could squeeze Marian into your suitcase.”

She waves her hand dismissively and let out a nervous giggle. “There is always room for Dragon Age!”

For a moment, they both fell silent but before it could turn into an awkward pause, Andreas pointed towards the other three and asked her to join them. Introductions were made easily. Kate of course had no problem at all to talk to strangers and before long the two girls were deep in conversation.

Their group was almost complete by now. Andreas had managed to contact some Dragon age cosplayers to get together for a photoshoot at 1 pm at the fountain. Now the only people missing were an Inquisitor and Solas. They showed up a few minutes after and their group set off to get some pictures in the small park that belonged to the convention hotel. Luckily the Inquisitor was with her sister who offered to take some shots of the whole group. Andreas chatted to everyone a bit. Joel entertained the group most of the time with assistance from Kate. David though… he was mostly silent and Andreas wondered if he should try to get him into conversation or if that would be unwelcome. It was hard to tell. In proper Fenris manner David stood next to the others and observed their talk and weird poses. Mostly he joined pictures without further questions but he obviously didn’t feel quite as comfortable with some of the derpier pictures.

“Can we do some shippy pictures too?”

Andreas was snatched from his thoughts again. Kate looked at him expectantly.

“Excuse me?”

“Ship pictures. Or does the sewer mage disapprove?” She stuck out her tongue and Andreas was glad Joel chose this moment to snap a picture of them because it was just too glorious to have Zevran stick out his tongue. Towards Anders of all people.

“No, no. It’s fine. What do you want to do?”

Andreas was a bit lost in that moment. He was still contemplating on how to get David more involved with the group when realization about Kate’s plans hit him and he flushed. Pictures of ships. Oh no... He knew Kate. And Kate knew him. And she knew perfectly well what was his favourite ship…

Before he could stop her, she spun around with a wicked grin. “Fenris! You’re needed over here!”

With a raised eyebrow David came over. He looked suspicious. Although he probably hadn’t realized Kate’s intention yet or he would run away as fast as possible

“Yes?”

With the most innocent expression, Kate reached out and pulled David over to position him next to Andreas. “You would do me a REAL favour if I could take some pics of just you.”

“Us?”

“Yes!” Her grin only got wider at David’s confusion.

“But you wanted to take couple pictures…”

“Yes!” Kate was undeterred and retrieved the camera from Joel who had been busy talking to Solas about the struggles of shaving properly up until this point. Then he realized what Kate needed the camera for and let out a whistle. “Don’t you dare damage my apostate, Fenris!”

It was a joke. Andreas knew. But it could not have been more badly in its timing. David’s mouth turned into a thin line. Even thinner than before. Something red spread over his cheeks and Andreas wondered if anger and white face paint gave you the ability to phase into somebody’s chest to rip out a heart. David didn’t seem too far away from it anyway.

“You don’t have to…”, Andreas attempted and turned towards the elf but David just shook his head. “It’s fine”, he pressed through clenched teeth. “It’s just a few pictures anyway.”

Something tight and uncomfortable sank inside Andreas’ chest. Was it so terrible to join him for a few photos? Maybe he should simply suggest doing some “Fenris kills Anders” pictures to brighten the elf’s mood? Or maybe he should just run away. Anders was good at that after all and in that moment running had a certain appeal to Andreas as well. Because up close it was even less easy to ignore that David was quite an attractive Fenris. Quite attractive. And that surely didn’t help with the fact that Andreas shipped Anders with the grumpy elf. No. Andreas gulped. That didn’t help at all.

“What do you want?”

David’s voice was calm but Andreas realized that he was rapidly tapping his feet and his gaze was anywhere but on him. He was apparently anxious to get this over with and regain some distance. Well, to be fair romantic pictures were always a bit tricky. Even with someone you knew perfectly well. Most photos from the Tranduil/Bard shooting had after all been outtakes where both of them had started giggling and made silly grimaces. The awkward-factor of pictures like that was always strong. So Andreas would not have minded if David dropped out of it. Yet here he stood. Close to him looking at the grass below their feet waiting for instructions by Kate. She was perfectly comfortable in her position behind the camera. Her gleeful smirk was barely hidden behind it and Andreas was very tempted to tell her that she wasn’t doing him a favour right now.

“Maybe you can sweep the mage of his feet? Literally. Or we’ll find you a wall” Her expression as she said the word “wall” was positively devilish. The implications of that particular term were enough to make Andreas blush. He was about to protest any of Kate’s weird plans when he felt a hand on his back.

“It’s more comfortable if you place an arm around my neck.”

Before Andreas could fully process these words, he was swept off his feet, one of David’s arms around his waist the other securely holding his legs. A chaotic influx of thoughts and emotions rushed through Andreas’ brain as he instinctively grabbed David’s neck to keep himself at least half upright.

Why would he even be up to something as silly as that with someone he barely knew? How did he manage to keep those spikey gauntlets from digging into his skin? Why was he even able to lift him so easily? He wasn’t that light after all. Yet Andreas didn’t even need to take a look at the muscles in David’s upper arms to know that he would probably be able to carry him even if he weighed twice as much. And Andraste’s tits, why was he so close to that unfairly handsome, grumpy face?

With all this going through his mind, Andreas completely forgot to be awkward in front of the camera. He was too much caught up in the moment. And in Fenris’ arms. In this close proximity, it was apparent that the hair was indeed white. And not just a wig. Andreas had to suppress the sudden impulse to reach up the last few inches and feel for himself if it was as soft as it looked. Luckily, he caught himself before he could do something as stupid as that and blushed even more.

“You could look at him for a change, David. You’re carrying a pretty cargo after all.”

Kate’s voice reached Andreas as if through a filter. David followed her instructions instantly and there seemed to be a hint of a soft smile which caused Andreas to skip a few breaths.

With a pang of further embarrassment Andreas realized that he wasn’t posing at all. All he did was stare in shock at the too handsome elf that held him. The smile on David’s face grew almost unnoticeably. He muttered something, his lips barely moving. Andreas didn’t really trust his ears because what he understood was strangely close to an ironically spoken “I hope you are not afraid of me”. Soft words. So close to his face. Soft lines that unexpectedly broke the harsh expression on David’s face. Andreas’ heartbeat began racing even more.

“Excellent! What do you say about some pictures by that wall over there?”

Kate seemed to be in her right element and David apparently had gained an odd boost of confidence. He nodded and carried Andreas over to the appointed spot. He didn’t even hesitate as if holding a far too tall mage was the most natural thing he had ever done.

“Eh… you know I am perfectly able to walk on my own…”

Right after Andreas said this he could have bitten his tongue, for David’s smile dropped a little and he immediately let go of Andreas securely setting him on his own feet again once they reached their destination.

“Sorry. I…” He lowered his gaze and fidgeted with words for a moment. “I figured it would be faster that way. Apologies.”

 _‘Fuck, he even talks like Fenris’_ , was the first thing that went through Andreas’ mind. The second was another self-reproach for ruining the perfectly fine smile on the others face with just a few simple words.

Kate was instantly next to them again and after staring at them with furrowed brows for a second she gave them suggestions and instruction for poses and pictures.

“Lucky for us, your heights match perfectly. As if we had planned it.” She winked and held up the camera again, their cue to fall back into character. Or maybe not, Andreas thought. _‘If David really behaved like canon Fenris he would have my head for standing so close.’_

But as it was they were to look at each other lovingly. Which was no problem for Andreas. He had never had any trouble with getting into character. Even less so when instructions were as easy to follow. David was… beautiful. Andreas would have shaken his head if it had not ruined a perfectly fine picture. In addition to that there was no use denying the obvious. The white hair fell teasingly into his face and Andreas only resisted for a moment until he reached up to lightly brush a few strands out of Fenris’ face. _‘David!’_ , Andreas had to remind himself that this was still a person, not a game character that had jumped straight from Thedas into the real world.

“Perfect!” He heard Kate’s excited exclamation and smiled to himself. It probably was that crooked half-smile that Joel was so fond of because according to him it was “just like Anders in the game”. And it definitely had the same effect Anders’ smile had on him. David’s eyes went a little bit wider and the faint blush that spread over’ David’s cheeks was for once certainly not related to anger. “You…” The other man started then cleared his throat. Andreas might have been mistaken, but he could have sworn the other’s voice had adapted a slightly deeper pitch for a second. “Has anyone ever told you, you smile like Anders?”

This remark came out so honest and unexpected that Andreas chuckled. This was too good to be true. And because Andreas had never been good at holding back, especially not when he felt more at ease, he leaned his forehead against David’s and answered quietly. “Has anyone ever told you, you have the same eye colour as Fenris?”

Said eyes widened ever so slightly and Andreas was suddenly aware of the spiked hand that carefully cupped his cheek. David was cautious. Andreas had been afraid of the sharp edges digging into his skin or tangling in his hair. But nothing like that happened. He just felt the cool material gently rest against his skin, the intend gaze of the elf on him.

“No…”, was the soft answer that was barely louder than a whisper. What made it even worse was that David gulped and his gaze slipped. At least for a second it lingered on Andreas’ lips. Or at least Andreas was convinced that was the case. His heartbeat agreed with him and doubled its pace within a moment and his own smug grin made way for a weird kind of anticipation.

Yes, they had agreed to do some couple pics but… would that include such things as kissing? Andreas was not sure if Fenris… _‘DAMMIT, David, not Fenris!’_ …was okay with that. Neither of them had talked about it beforehand and to simply go for it was not the most tactful approach. Not that Andreas would have minded in this special case.

A high-pitched squeal interrupted Andreas’ contemplation on the matter and he and David jerked away from one another as if stung by a bee.

“You’re so gross!”

A Sera cosplayer had appeared next to Kate and grinned at them both from one pointy ear to another.

“One cannot leave you alone for one convention without you getting all handsy with an elf!”

The girl had her hands on her hips and stuck out a tongue. Andreas laughed in relief and opened up his arms.

“Helen, you are an ass!” Helen made a disgusted sound in reply but despite it almost jumped into the hug. “I hate you too little brother!”

“Little?” Andreas raised his eyebrows. “I’m older! And you’re only taller with platform shoes!”

“Not important!” Helen reached passed Andreas and offered her hand to David. “Helen! Or just call me Sera. My brother is a terrible nerd and more delicate than he admits by the way.”

David whose face had gone through a row of varying degrees of confusion and embarrassment had finally settled on amused indifference again. “I will remember that”, he said as he took the offered hand. Helen didn’t wait long before she wrapped him up in a quite one-sided conversation about overprotective older siblings and water bombs. Andreas didn’t even want to know how that choice of subject had happened and what it implied. While Helen and David talked he got the chance to see some of the pics on Kate’s camera before she focused her attention and the camera on Solas, the Inquisitor and Dorian. By then Andreas was faced with his own inexplicable subject change inside his head. His thoughts had gone from _‘David probably hates me for being Anders’_ to _‘How can I get him to actually kiss me’_ and almost instantly further to _‘Don’t be ridiculous, you’re misinterpreting this’_. Sometimes Andreas hated his mind. And his heart. Especially in moments as these.

The rest of the photoshoot and the day went well. The Inquisition pictures got photobombed a bit by a certain rogue with a liking for cookies – though nobody really minded as it was all in good fun anyway and the attack on the egg was easily forgiven when Helen actually unpacked a box of cookies by her mum.

“They are your favourites! She practically forced them on me.” Andreas was familiar was his sister and knew this was as close as she would get to say “Mum misses you and I did too so I brought you cookies from us both.”

“I’ll make sure to eat as many as I can so you don’t get any then!”

She looked mock affronted and snatched the box from Andreas’ hands. “You don’t deserve these. An apostate and a thief. Scandalous!” They had to chase her around the fountain three time before David stepped in and only Maker knows how retrieved the cookies and handed them back to a very flustered Andreas who proceeded to hand them out to everyone. His quiet “Thank you” was met by a shrug. Yet… Andreas might have been fooling himself, but that shrug didn’t seem as hostile as the behaviour earlier. It was more embarrassed.

Then everyone got a little more embarrassed when Kate finally claimed her spot in front of the camera. She tried to trick everyone into being her romance partner for once but the only one who agreed was Hawke. Sweet, tiny, Scottish Hawke who definitely had no idea what she was getting herself into, because Kate basically made her swoon in her arms and after a short question actually went for the kiss. And not just a quick peck on the cheeks or lips. At one point Andreas decided to cough as even Joel had stopped taking pictures and looked away with a hint of pink on his face.

“You know you don’t have to kill her with a single kiss. You can postpone that too later when we’re not forced to watch you making out with Hawke.”

Kate looked up with the smuggest Zevran-grin ever, kissed Hawke’s hand and said: “Jealous, Anders?”

“Not in the slightest. No offense Hawke.”

The woman giggled, obviously a bit lightheaded from that kiss and blushed deeply. “None taken.”

After that their small group got even smaller again, Solas and the Inquisitor went one way, Hawke had to hurry and meet up with friends for a panel – and earned another good-bye kiss from Zevran and Helen had plans of her own. Mischievous ones, no doubt. Which only left Joel, David, Kate, and Andreas who went back into the convention venue after hours outside and took a proper tour through the vendors and artist isles for the first time.

Andreas thoughts had long since wandered elsewhere, when Kate suddenly slung an arm around his waist and whispered so loud everyone could hear it: “So if you’re not interested in Hawke, who else strikes your fancy?”

 _‘Damn tease! That is none of your business.’_ was the first thing that flashed through Andreas’ mind. What got out of his mouth was a stumble of sounds that didn’t really assemble into actual words. The blush that probably appeared on his cheeks wasn’t helpful either.

A side glance towards David, that he totally should have avoided if he wanted to keep his almost crush from public display, showed him that the elf wasn’t listening. At least he wasn’t watching them if he did.

“Come on, we all know he’s head over heels in love with me!” Joel teased back and extricated Andreas’ from Kate’s grip. Although his words seemed humorous, the glance he through at Kate was not. It was one of his rare “Shut up!” glares, hidden behind a veil of flamboyant superiority.

Kate though, was apparently too lost in the role and in too good a mood and did either not get the subtle hint or chose to ignore it. “You might be head over heels in love when you see Anders’ party outfit later tonight.* her excessive eyebrow wiggling made joel roll his eyes and actually brought David’s attention back to them. He looked… affronted? Confused? Displeased? Anders couldn’t tell. Lucky for him and the whole group, Kate spoke up again: “By the way, when will we go to our room and change?”

Andreas sighed and took out his phone to take a look at the clock. “It’s almost 4 anyway. The opening ceremony is in an hour. So maybe straight after that? We can get some food and then dress up for the party.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Kate nodded, apparently sufficiently distracted from her initial talk subject and took the lead of their group. Just when Andreas was about to ask when and where the others would eat and change, he felt some unmistakable piece of facial hair pressed against his cheek with a soft kiss. “Don’t mind her”, Joel whispered and offered him a smile. It was sweet. And nothing really new in their dynamic as friends. Yet in that particular moment Andreas would have preferred it if Joel had not added that specific display of affection to their conversation. It was awkward to begin with. And the glimpse Andreas got at David out of the corner of his eye, was not to his liking. The other man seemed a bit more closed off again. Maybe it was just the open kissing that irked him, maybe David wasn’t fond to talk about that exact subject all the time. Yet every time talk turned towards “love” he frowned. It should not have mattered to Andreas, but it did. Maybe there was something that made David anxious? Something they could not know and they… _‘Shut up, Andreas!’_ He berated himself internally and thus tried to stop the spiral of concern to plummet even further.

The next hour went by faster than anticipated. At one point Kate had decided they all needed flower crowns and chatted with the vendor for quite some time until they were all graced with a set of flowers matching their respective costumes. Andreas liked it. Joel was thrilled. After all there was enough fanart of both their characters with flower crowns by that time and the look definitely worked for them. Kate was more than happy with her flowers as well and used the power of flowers only a few minutes after to place it on top of another girl’s head who was daring enough to ask Zevran for a picture. Andreas was only happy she didn’t go for a kiss again.

David though seemed less happy with his new accessories. True enough the black and white flowers matched his costume and were delicate enough to not stand out too much. Still David’s face was a perfect replica of a brooding Fenris and Andreas set out to rectify that as soon as he could.

An opportunity for that arose once they entered the main hall to take their seats for the opening ceremony and realized they had to split up because their tickets had different numbers. Joel was stuck with a very excited Kate who threw jokes and flirts left and right and David and Andreas had to go to the middle section of the seating area. Before the elf left him to search for his place, Andreas stopped him barely refraining from reaching for David’s hand.

“Wait!”

Instantly David stood still and turned around again. “Yes?”

 _‘Maker why does he sound so insecure all of a sudden?’_ Andreas shrugged away the uncomfortable feeling and forced himself to smile.

“You don’t seem comfortable with that.” He pointed at the flowers and David immediately rolled his eyes. “I don’t mind them.” Yet the tense way he drew up his shoulders and the suspicious glance David threw at everyone who giggled in passing, just to check if they were looking at him, spoke volumes.

“Liar”, Andreas chuckles and reached for the flower crown. He plucked it from the elf’s head with nimble fingers and placed it on his own. David’s eyes widened slightly.

“If Kate asks, I stole them from you because I look prettier with them.” He threw the startled elf a wink and added. “And that is only half a lie.” With another smirk, Andreas was about to turn and search for his own seat when the corner of David’s mouth twitched up, the tension had left him the moment the flowers where gone, and an almost… tender expression appeared on his face. “It’s not a lie at all. They suit you.” And with that he turned and his white shock of hair disappeared somewhere between the other people.

For the blink of an eye, Andreas was left standing and stared after him. Then he turned, if only to hide his blush from the people around them and went into the other direction. ‘Was that… Has that really been a compliment? Or flirt maybe?’ it was at least not completely unlikely. And for a blissful moment, Andreas allowed himself to feel the odd warmth spread inside his chest. Absentmindedly he reached up to his head and touched the flowers. He was probably fooling himself, but it was nice to fool himself into believing that someone thought he was attractive. Even more so that it was “Fenris” who – despite what Andreas had expected – actually was nice. For a grumpy elf that was supposed to hate mages he maybe even was more than nice…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you wonder how that photoshoot REALLY went: http://selfmadecosplay.tumblr.com/post/160090520531/qunarienthusiast-the-dragon-age-cosplay-video

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is heavily inspired by a real life convention visit where I was Anders and glowelf was Fenris. Some changes have been made for the sake of the plot, but mostly it's quite close to what acctually happened.  
> Thank you to those two Supernatural cosplayers who absolutely made my day. <3
> 
> Also a big shoutout to armory-rasa on facebook. They are the source for the leather pouch pattern! (Give their page a look, their leather work is absolutely stunning.)


End file.
